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A comment on OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microsoft Office. Parent comment

Re:OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microso... by brudgers on Tuesday February 12, 2013 @04:50PM (#5209819)
Open Office falls short compared to Office for the average user in the same way that Linux falls short for such non-technical people - poor documentation and support. My mom can go to the public library and choose one of several books. She can even take classes on Office at the senior center.

The support for FOSS alternatives just doesn't compare in terms of diversity or ease of use for a lay person. The bookstore has shelves of books on Office. When there are three books on LibreOffice, I'll consider buying a lottery ticket.

I wish things were different. But they aren't.

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Re:OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microso... by lumberjack on Tuesday February 12, 2013 @05:46PM (#5210095)
>The support for FOSS alternatives just doesn't compare in terms of diversity or ease of use for a lay person.

Actually I've found the exact opposite. FOSS tends to have very active and very engaging communities that actually provide answers. Whereas on most win/ms software forums, there are usually a ton of people who are just parroting each other without understanding how completely far of they are from the crux of the problem. Of course this is all just a bunch of anecdotes.

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Re:OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microso... by davidw on Tuesday February 12, 2013 @05:09PM (#5209929)
There's a difference between saying that for many things, MS Office wins and some of the spittle-flecked rants about OpenOffice that one sees.
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Re:OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microso... by brudgers on Tuesday February 12, 2013 @05:31PM (#5210042)
For the average person they are not in the same league due to the differences in the support ecosystems. OpenOffice and LibreOffice simply are not robust in that regard. And that's where the average person's needs are - not in a code repository.
[ Parent | on HN ]